Gia Lai farmers struggle to find higher prices for VietGap coffee

Farmers work at a large coffee field in Gia Lai province’s Dak Doa district. (Photo: VNA)

Gia Lai (VNA) -
Local authorities and farmers who grow coffee under Vietnamese Good
Agricultural Practices (VietGap) in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai are
seeking a better selling price for their coffee because of its higher
quality.

Last year, 60 households in
Ia Gon Village took part in the VietGap Robusta Coffee Planting Team in Duc Co
district’s Ia Krel commune, under the support of the commune’s People’s
Committee and the district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau.

Under the programme, local
authorities promised that they would try to find buyers for their products, but
have not been successful so far.

Le Viet Hop, a team member
who owns 1.5 ha of coffee trees, said his family harvested six tonnes of coffee
beans last year, but could not find a buyer who was willing to pay higher
prices.

After waiting for about 1.5
months, he sold the coffee beans to buyers who paid the price for normal
coffee.

“Although I felt very sad,
I did not know what to do,” he said, adding that he had to sell for cash flow
reasons.

Nguyen Si Hau, who is part
of the planting team, has stocked seven tonnes of VietGap coffee in his house.

He said that planting
VietGap coffee was strict and production costs were high, but he could wait to
sell his coffee at a higher price.

Hoang Xuan Thuy, head of
the planting team, said one company offered to buy the team’s coffee at 500 VND
a kilo higher than normal coffee but it never returned.

Last year, the team
harvested about 500 tonnes of coffee on 100 ha of coffee trees planted under
strict VietGAP standards.

Of the figure, farmers had
to sell about 150 tonnes at normal prices, but they stocked the remaining to
wait for a better price, according to the Ia Krel Commune People’s Committee.

Siu Luynh, chairman of the
Ia Krel Commune People’s Committee, said the People’s Committee was working
with the district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau to call on local
coffee-buying establishments to guarantee outlets for VietGAp coffee.

The People’s Committee is
also encouraging farmers to continue planting VietGAp coffee.

By the end of December, the
Central Highlands province had 130 ha of VietGap coffee, including 130 ha in
Duc Co district and 30 ha in Pleiku City, according to the province’s
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Quality Management Sub-department.

Le Huy Toan, head of the
sub-department, said: “We guide farmers planting VietGAP coffee in teams so
that production processes can be monitored strictly, ensuring coffee quality.”

“We’ve organised fairs and
meeting activities for coffee buyers and farmers to promote the coffee
production chain,” he said.

Gia Lai,
which has one of the largest coffee areas in the country, has more than 90,000
ha of coffee trees. Of the figure, trees on 18,000 ha are old and should be
replanted by 2020, according to local authorities.

To
improve coffee quality, local authorities supported farmers in replanting old
coffee trees.

Farmers can borrow a loan
of 150 million VND (6,600 USD) at a preferential interest rate per ha to
replant old coffee trees.

Last
year, farmers in the province replanted more than 3,500 ha of old coffee,
exceeding 40 percent of the target.